My second and third day in Hong Kong were eventful, but much less tiring than the first!
On Saturday, we had a Yale Club lunch at a restaurant called American Peking. Caroline, the president of the Yale Club of Hong Kong had reserved 3 round tables for us. I sat at the table where there happened to be a ’77 grad and also with 2 Hong Kong pre-frosh. One sitting next to me asked, “What residential college do you recommend?” I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I informed him, “Actually, you don’t get to choose… although Morse is great! (hehe)” Overall, the food quality was average, but others thought it was great. I personally am more of a fan of more authentic Chinese cuisine, especially when I am physically in East Asia. Later on Saturday, I moved all my belongings with the Bulldogs to their new dorms at the City University of Hong Kong (located in Kowloon Tong), but the dorms were too small to fit an extra person, so I planned to stay that night with a friend in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. That night, I headed off with the Bulldogs for another round of Mongkok (where we enjoyed some more mango-goodness at 许留山. Man, I love that place. That evening, I left the Bulldogs to join Minh and KaWing @ CUHK.
Sunday morning was spent mostly packing and getting ready to go. KaWing and I had an enjoyable breakfast in United College (one of the 4 colleges of CUHK), and I left to gather my belongings. My YUNA penpal, and also my Hong Kong guide, traveled with me all the way across the border to Shenzhen, where I took a shuttle to the airport. To my surprise, Shenzhen airport is remarkably clean and orderly (I had envisioned something along of the lines of another Beijing Train Station… where scalpers would literally breathe down your neck the moment you neared). I boarded my China Eastern Airlines to Nanjing without a hitch, and the dinner served on the airplane was one of the best airplane dinners I have had (although I guess that isn’t saying too much, it is something). The plane did however seem to experience turbulence quite often, and to get off the plane, they had to roll in those stairs. From Nanjing, my uncle and one of his chauffeurs from his company took me directly to my grandparents’ house in Changzhou, which is where I am now. Changzhou is located 2 hours away from Nanjing, and 1 hour from Shanghai, and 1 hour from Suzhou as well. I really like visiting home because everyone here speaks the Changzhou dialect (which I use to communicate with my parents at home). Therefore, nobody treats me as an outsider because I understand the local dialect, although many people tell me I dress very ‘American’.
For the next few days, I plan on relaxing and perhaps even reviewing some of my Chinese. I also am in dire need of a haircut, and I need to shop for socks. Hope to see all of you soon in Beijing!
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